How a Segway was used to create one of the craziest camera shots in Eurovision history

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Go on, admit it – you watched the Eurovision Song Contest. And it’s okay – we do have a tech angle on this. You have to watch this video – it’s crazy.

Cast your mind back to 2009, when the contest was held in Russia, back when people liked Russia a bit more than they do now.

Remember the Belarus entry? Of course you don’t. I don’t know why my mind just filters out bland Europop, but all my memories of it, like many things in the so-called Last Dictatorship in Europe country, they just disappeared.

Anyway – there was a really long shot in which the camera seemed to zoom all the way from the back of the arena to the stage, before circling the singer up close. It makes you wonder… just how did they do that? Watch this video for the original shot and the behind the scenes:

That’s right – they used a camera man on a segway bike, driving really fast towards the stage… at which point he jumped off and ran in circles around the guy. Incredible – not only on the part of the camera operator, but also that someone finally found a use for a Segway.

Whether this technique was used again we’re not so sure – but for our money, the most impressive use of technology in this year’s contest was powering it all with a hamster wheel: